Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Advocacy group calls expanded gambling effort "badly handled"

LEXINGTON, KY—All seems quiet on the gambling front, a phenomenon that has one group wondering how the effort to bring casino-style gambling to the state seems to have stalled, and possibly died altogether. "At first we were worried about an all-out assault from the gambling industry, but now we're wondering if a bill is ever going to materialize," said Martin Cothran, spokesman for The Family Foundation.

"This started out looking like it was going to be The Empire Strikes Back, but now it seems more like Waiting for Godot."

Cothran said this was "one of the most badly handled legislative initiatives we have ever seen." He said his group is thankful for the Governor's mishandling of the effort, but he is still surprised nothing has happened given all the money the gambling industry has already spent trying to throw its weight around.

"By the time this bill gets introduced, it will be past its expiration date. We are now into the fourth week of the legislative session. If this bill had been introduced two weeks ago, it may have had a chance. But we think their window of opportunity is gone." He said he thinks the session has already "passed this issue by."

“Not only do they not have the votes in the Senate, but they are losing support by the day."

"Gov. Beshear and his friends in the gambling industry have had a whole year to try to put something together for legislators to look at. But here we are, into the fourth week of the General Assembly, and they can't even decide what they want. They're essentially jerking lawmakers around. We think the patience of most legislators has run out."